


Falling and Forgetting (In Your Arms)

by ImACatWithABat



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV 2020)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Based on a Mother Mother Song, Bobby Wilson Needs A Hug, Bobby | Trevor Wilson Defense Squad, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Hurt No Comfort, M/M, Song: Arms Tonite (Mother Mother), Sorry guys, Survivor Guilt, This is just pure angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-06
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-19 11:13:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29873784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImACatWithABat/pseuds/ImACatWithABat
Summary: Bobby was prepared for a lot of things. He needs to be able to take care of his idiot. As dumb as Reggie can be sometimes, his boyfriend is “his” idiot, and he loves him to death.So, he keeps what seems like a billion picks with him. God knows Reggie loses his at least twice a rehearsal. Bobby knows that things will eventually go wrong, so he makes sure he’s ready for it. He just doesn’t know how wrong things will go.Bobby just isn’t sure how to prepare for this. There’s no amount of guitar picks that can help now. Not when Reggie is lying down, unmoving.A Boggie song fic based on “Arms Tonite” by Mother Mother
Relationships: Bobby | Trevor Wilson/Reggie Peters
Comments: 4
Kudos: 26





	Falling and Forgetting (In Your Arms)

1: Hey, You

Bobby and Reggie met in an unfortunate way. It turns out that giving a clumsy seven-year old a bike, with absolutely no guidance is a terrible idea. Reggie’s parents wouldn’t see it that way, but their judgement is awful.

Which is how Reggie ends up sprawled on the sidewalk, crying to himself. He’s 99% sure nothing’s broken, but his knee is all scraped up. He tries to shield his eyes, but he can still see drops of blood welling on his skin. His bike fell on top of him, and he’s too tired to try and get up. He decides to wait.

Bobby sees a boy lying on the pavement, and has an internal crisis. He knows he’s supposed to go get his parents, or Mrs. Mercer from next door, but every nerve in his body is saying to go to the boy right away. 

“Do you need any help?” Bobby asks the kid. He looks around the same age as Bobby, with messy dark hair, freckles, and a band-aid covering his cheek.

“That’d be great! Do you think you can grab my bike? It’s kinda heavy,” The boy replies as he wipes tears from his face. His hands are covered in dirt, and it streaks all over his face. 

Bobby grabs the bike by the handle bar and pulls it up. It is heavy. He sets it a few feet away, on the nearest lawn. He walks back over to the boy, and reaches his hand out. The kid grabs it, and pulls himself to his feet.

“I’m Reggie, who are you?” The boy, Reggie, says with a grin. He’s missing his front teeth, and Bobby can tell he has a bit of a lisp now that he’s not crying.

“My name’s Bobby. I live down the street,” he tells Reggie.

“Cool! Wanna be friends? I just moved here, and I got a new comic book, and I’ve got no one to read it with,” Reggie says, and as he speaks, his eyes squint and twinkle with excitement.

“Sure, why not?” Bobby agrees. Reggie nods, and pulls him across the sidewalk.

“What about your bike?” Bobby asks, he raises his voice a little, panicked from the sudden movement.

“Don’t worry about it! I’ll find it later,”. And with that, the two kids race off towards Reggie’s house.

  
  
  


2: Escape the Afterlife

“Hey, Bobby, are you awake?” Reggie’s voice breaks through the darkness. He sounds different, dimmer than most days.

“Yeah, Reg. What’s up?” Bobby grumbles back. As he turns onto his side, he knows his voice is low and cracking from sleep. A side-effect of Reggie’s one a.m. philosophy discussions. They seem to happen every single sleep-over, even when it’s just the two of them, like tonight.

“What do you think happens after you die?” Reggie sounds somber. His voice sounds wary, and almost fearful.

“Why are you worried about that?”.

“I was just thinking,”.

“Just thinking, huh? What’s wrong, dude?”.

“I just get scared sometimes. What if it’s nothing? What if the world keeps turning, and forgets about me? And I have no way of knowing it,”. Reggie says, after pausing for a few moments. 

Truth be told, that’s exactly what Bobby thinks would happen after death. So many people are forgotten, and there’s no proof of any sort of afterlife. But that’s not what’s going to comfort his best friend.

“Well, I’m not sure what happens, but I’m sure it’s not that,” Bobby takes a breath, and continues, “Cause I know that you’re not going to be forgotten. I’ll make sure of it myself. Even if it means I have to fight my way into heaven and kidnap you back to life,”. 

Reggie giggles a bit at that last sentence.

And despite his thoughts on everything post-death, Bobby means what he says. Out of everyone in the world, Reggie is special. He beams like the sun, and his warmth is just as essential to the planet. Bobby swears to himself that he’s going to keep Reggie alive forever, if only in everyone’s memories.

“Thanks, Bobby. You’re the best friend I could ask for, you know that?”.

“I know,” Bobby says quietly. He can hear Reggie snoring softly beside him. He’ll never understand how that boy can fall asleep so fast. One minute he’s bouncing around, and the next, he’s completely dead to the world. Bobby is not so lucky.

  
  


3: Fell Hard in Your Arms

Reggie is everything light and beautiful in the world. His smile glows like the sun, his eyes can light up the most dour of rooms. His irises contain the stars. An entire galaxy rests in his beautiful eyes. Blue and twinkling, they’re filled with wonder and possibility. His face embodies the moon. His skin is pale, and contrasts perfectly imperfect with his night dark hair. His cheeks are round and youthful, completed by constellations of freckles dotting across his nose.

Bobby can never compare to Reggie. His boyfriend is the sun, everything revolves around his brightness. Bobby is a blinking lightbulb in a closet. He’s almost dark, and he knows he should be replaced. He keeps that in the back of his mind, especially when he’s with Reggie. Because Reggie is necessary, and he is not.

He can almost forget it now, though. The moonlight is shining down on the two lovers, as they sit among the stars. Soon, Bobby knows they’ll be stars. They’re a few days away from the Orpheum gig, and after that, they’ll become huge. But for now, they can simply exist, dancing through the night.

Reggie has his hands on Bobby’s shoulders, and gazes into his eyes. He looks so ethereal in the midnight that Bobby has to look away. If he stares, he’ll combust on the spot. According to the Greeks, if you looked at a God, they’d be so perfect, you’d die right where you stood. Bobby thinks his situation is similar.

Bobby feels Reggie’s head rest on his shoulder, the bassist’s hair tickling his neck. They sway softly in the night, and Bobby is more at peace than he’s ever been.

“Reg, baby? Do you know how much I love you?” Bobby whispers, his lips brushing the crown of Reggie’s head.

“It’s a lot, right? If it’s anything like my love for you, it has to be a lot,” Reggie murmurs softly into Bobby’s neck.

“So, you don’t even know, then. I love you more than I can comprehend. Reg, I’d count every star and blade of grass for you. I would trade the rest of my life, just to see your face for a second. I love you so much it scares me sometimes,”.

Reggie lifts his face to look at Bobby. Both boys are quiet, yet it says everything. The world is still and perfect as Bobby silently kisses Reggie’s forehead.

  
  


4: I Cry Hard

Bobby was prepared for a lot of things. He needs to be able to take care of his idiot. As dumb as Reggie can be sometimes, his boyfriend is “his” idiot, and he loves him to death.

So, he keeps what seems like a billion picks with him. God knows Reggie loses his at least twice a rehearsal. Bobby knows that things will eventually go wrong, so he makes sure he’s ready for it. He just doesn’t know how wrong things will go.

Bobby just isn’t sure how to prepare for this. There’s no amount of guitar picks that can help now. Not when Reggie is lying down, unmoving.

The car ride to the hospital goes by like it’s a dream. Everything blurs into a gray fuzz, and a high pitched screech. The paramedics wouldn’t let him onto an ambulance, no matter how much he pleaded. Rose from the Orpheum is getting him there, she said she didn’t trust him to drive in his current state. That’s probably a good call.

The next few minutes after they arrive are the worst so far. He faintly recalls pushing past doors and people, and scrambling towards the front desk. He remembers demanding that a poor nurse tell him where the boy in the leather jacket is. He wants to forget his own screaming, as Reggie’s heart rate monitor cries out behind him. He’d do anything to bleach from his mind how he held Reggie, even when the doctors and nurses tried to pull him off. He won’t remember his fall to the ground.

When Bobby hits the floor, something in him breaks. The sterile white lighting of the room is fading to black around him, leaving only emptiness. He feels the floor tiles crack beneath him as he falls, but he can’t hear a sound. Bobby Wilson is losing himself.

It’s not until he feels a faint hand settle on his shoulder that he even remembers he’s alive. In, and out. In, and out. Rose’s hand reminds him to breathe. Her fingers rub calming circles into his back, and his mind starts to numb itself. If the thoughts and pain didn’t dull, Bobby thinks he would keel over and die on the spot. That would be preferable at this point.

“Is he alright? Young man, I need you to get up off the floor,” a doctor says. Bobby bites back a giggle, “Is he alright?”. Of fucking course not. How in God’s name would he be okay? Maybe he’s not the one of the ones that died, but he’s just lost the last of his real family.

“Bobby, you gotta get up now. They need you to fill out some forms,” Rose says as she helps him to his feet. His legs shake as he rises. He knows that he can barely stand, how do they expect him to fill out some stupid paperwork? 

The body is still in the room too. He can feel the corpse watching him as nurses and doctors roll up sheets over its face.

Goodbye to Reggie Peters, with his summertime freckles and without the childish grin. With his pale skin, even whiter in death. He feels a piece of himself leave with him. Goodbye to Bobby Wilson, with his teary eyes and dead lover.

  
  


+1: I Died in Your Arms that Night

Trevor mourns for many people. His old cat, his Nana and Pops, Luke, Alex, and, of course, Reggie. But he also grieves for Bobby Wilson. Because Trevor is the only person who knows that Bobby Wilson is dead. 

There’s no grave, although he did consider it. No funeral for poor Bobby, no flowers and poems and bible verses. Bobby Wilson has been forgotten. 

And so has Reggie. Bobby would have immortalized him. Bobby would’ve tried harder. Bobby would have saved him.

But Bobby Wilson is dead, and Trevor’s pushed himself up from his ashes. He dragged himself out of an early grave to success. No one else can know, they’ll think he’s lost his mind. Because to most people, dying is a physical thing. Heart, lungs, and brain stop, and your body breaks down. Trevor knows better.

Because his body never broke, he never choked up a deadly hotdog, he never clutched himself so hard that he felt it when his heart stopped beating. But Bobby Wilson still kicked the bucket, dying in Reggie’s arms that night.

  
  
  



End file.
